“What? No, no, no. Leaving is not an option, Charlotte.” She pushes me back into my seat. “I can see Monica closing up the tab at the bar right now. You’ve got to pull it together and finish this presentation. Please. Give it five more minutes. Then you can go splash some water on your face in the bathroom or whatever you need to do.”

“I need to go,” I repeat.

“You can’t. These guys are loving it. We’re so close to securing this business.”

I try to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I just can’t. Tell Monica to finish the presentation. You have no idea how bad this will get if I don’t go home.”

“How bad what will get? What is happening with you, Charlotte? Just a moment ago you were army-crawling under the table. Now you suddenly have to head home? Please fill me in so that I can understand why your antics are sending this dinner to hell in a handbasket.”

Zareen is my boss and I’m afraid she just might fire me right here, right now, if I leave with no viable explanation for my behavior tonight. So I close my eyes and brace for what is bound to be a rough landing.

“I was married to a man who died and his ashes are in my bag right now but they weren’t two minutes ago. His urn fell out of my purse and rolled under the table and that feeling of losing him again hit me like a ton of bricks. Earlier today, his mom came to my apartment to try to steal the urn back. So, yeah. Everything is just sort of combusting right now and I feel like I can’t breathe. God, I feel like I can’t breathe!”

“Shhhh, relax. Relax, Charlotte.” Zareen pulls me in to her side as she rubs my back with her hand, the sound of her jewelry clanking together like wind chimes. “In through your nose, out through your mouth.”

I give that a try and compose myself enough to tell her, “I’m not doing okay right now. I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow, or even just later tonight, but I can’t stay here. I’m really sorry I ruined everything.”

“It’s okay.” Zareen’s tone softens. She sounds motherly. “Monica will finish the presentation. The slides are pretty self-explanatory, right? You sent her the deck this morning, so she has it on her phone, right?”

I nod my head yes. I sent Monica the slides in case my phone acted up. Not in case I did.

“Well, then, I’m confident Monica can handle this. She’s an expert schmoozer and this will be—no pun intended—a piece of cake for her.”

I smile at her, grateful for her understanding as I toss the bag over my shoulder and prepare to leave.

Zareen grabs my wrist. “Charlotte, thank you for your honesty tonight. But I need you to know that I’m putting you on a forced leave for two weeks. Don’t worry—it’ll still be paid.”